Anthony Albanese tests positive to Covid for a second time this year

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has tested Covid-19 for the second time within months, just days after meeting with his Finnish counterpart and cuddled babies while visiting a flood-ravaged town before attending a packed rock concert at the Sydney Opera House.

He confirmed the news on Monday night and will isolate at home at Kirribilli House while infected, despite scrapping isolation restriction rules in October.

‘This afternoon I had a routine PCR test which has returned a positive result for Covid,’ Mr Albanese tweeted.

‘I will be isolating and will continue to work from home.

‘I encourage anyone who is unwell to test and to take any extra precautions to keep their families and neighbours well.’

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Anthony Albanese has tested positive to Covid just three days after he and dog Toto hosted Finland Prime Minister Sanna Marin at Kirribilli House

A national cabinet meeting with state and territory leaders scheduled to be held on Wednesday will now be postponed and moved to a new date which is yet to be confirmed.

It’s not known how many people have been in close contact with Mr Albanese since he became infected as he’s had a busy schedule in recent days. 

He left Canberra and returned to Sydney on Friday after the final sitting week of parliament for the year.

Hours later, he met with Finland Prime Minister Sanna Marin and invited her to Kirribilli House to held bilateral talks about security in the region.

He also attended a public event in Cabramatta in Sydney’s south-west at the former family home of former Labor prime minister Gough Whitlam.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese cuddled baby Mia while touring the Big4 Caravan Park in Renmark on Saturday. The PM is now in isolation after testing positive to Covid

The Prime Minister returned to Sydney to attend a concert by US rock band Pixies (pictured) at the Sydney Opera House

The following day, he travelled to flood-ravaged Renmark in South Australia’s Riverland as the Murray River continued to rise.

He met with Premier Peter Malinauskas and mingled with affected locals, where he was photographed cuddling babies while visiting a local caravan park. 

The live music tragic returned to Sydney to attend a concert of US-based alternative rock band Pixies at the Sydney Opera House on Sunday night.

‘Brilliant as always. Pixies gig tonight was worth the wait. #livemusic,’ he captioned a photo of a packed crowd at the gig.

Mr Albanese is due to fly to Papua New Guinea next Monday for a two day visit.

Wednesday’s national cabinet which has since been delayed was tipped to be a tense affair with skyrocketing electricity costs high and a proposal to intervene in the energy market high on the agenda.

The federal government had originally promised unveil its emergency energy policy by Christmas.

Anthony Albanese confirmed he had tested Covid-19 on Monday night

It’s the second time Anthony Albanese (pictured with partner Jodie Haydon) has contracted Covid-19 this year

A cap on coal prices was also on the table, which sparked resistance from Queensland and NSW.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk had already indicated she can’t support the proposal unless she is ‘very convinced that no Queenslander would be worse off.’

Aged Care Minister Anika Wells and Labor backbencher Dan Repacholi have also tested positive to Covid-19 in recent days.

NSW recorded 37,796 new cases and 32 deaths in the week up to 4pm last Thursday, an increase of almost 5,000 infections from the week prior.

Mr Albanese also tested positive in April less than a month out from the federal election after attending a series of public events on the election campaign.

Mr Albanese spent a week isolating at his Marrickville home in Sydney’s inner-west before leaving isolation for the final three weeks of the election campaign to lead Labor to victory for the first time in nine years.

He received his fourth Covid-19 vaccination in July and was slammed at the time for not wearing a mask while getting his jab.

Anthony Albanese (left) will isolate at Kirribilli House for the next week, just three days after inviting Finnish counterpart Sanna Marin (right) to his home